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As promised from my previous post, here is Hippo. He works at the front desk of lHermitage hotel in Vancouver. Apparently he handles guest relations, mascot duties, and the occasional broom chasing. I asked him if I could take his picture, he agreed, then jumped up on this bench and posed for me. I snapped some photos as he made some cute faces. Or for Hippo, just faces, they were always cute. Eventually, the broom was too much for him, he had to go chase it.

I wish I could claim this gem, but I can’t. It is an image my wife made while we testing out the Nikon D5000. Fantastic image and one heck of a camera. It is a great little camera for under $500. I figured others might be looking for a backup, or even a good first DSLR so I decided to write a quick (MTF chart free) review. For the full review and more great images, click here. If you have any questions, just post a comment and I will try to get them answered.

lHermitage is a great little boutique hotel in Vancouver. The prices are reasonable, and the rooms are huge. The hotel sits on the border of Yaletown, so you will have access to all the fine dining you could want. It’s also close to a main bus line making it easy to catch a cheap ride to the harbor for some incredible sunset images. Not only is an Olympic torch inside the hotel, one of the cutest dogs you have ever met works at the front desk. Trust me, I will post a photo of Hippo this Thursday to prove it! You are going to love this little guy.

I could spend all day taking the False Creek Ferries from pier to pier around Vancouver. Actually, we did! We saw Granville Island, Kits Beach, Heritage Harbor, and we were impromptu guests at a strangers wedding as we docked. All for around $14!

I haven’t posted a processing video for a while, and one of the readers and good friends of LightAsMagic.com had a question about adding some contrast to your image after it has been Tonemapped. Also, I have made a couple additions (upgrades) to the Darkroom and decided I should put it all together in a quick video….actually, this one is a bit longer than the usual quick hitters I post. The video touches on creating a single image HDR using Photomatix 4 (beta 9), Adobe Camera Raw, Topaz Labs Denoise 5, and Nik Color Efex Pro. Anyways, I hope you find it useful!

You can use the coupon code LIGHTASMAGIC to receive a 15 percent discount on any of these products.